By Your Side
by Lily-Starbuck
Summary: Based off teeny spoilers for season 11. Dedicated to KieBug :
1. Chapter 1

KC (my muse, for those who have asked in previous reviews) appears to be on a roll at the moment, so here's a new little fic for ya'll. Based off a teeny tiny clip from the season 11 promo, so possible spoilers. Dedicated to my Twitter friend KieBug, who provided the challenge. Hope this is up to standard hun :)  
As usual, I own nothing *sigh*

"Ok David, what do we have?" Grave Shift Supervisor Catherine Willows asked David Phillips, coroner's assistant as she approached him, pulling her long strawberry blonde hair up in a clip and rolling up the sleeves of her navy blue jumpsuit.

David glanced up at her as she slipped her hands into a pair of latex gloves, offering her a smile of greeting before he spoke.

"Looks like a male, race and age undetermined."

The tangy aroma of burnt hair and flesh assaulted her nostrils as she crouched down beside the body.

"Fire's done a lot of damage to him," David continued, Catherine's hands carefully running over what was left of the victim's clothes in order to find anything that could potentially lead to an I.D. but came up empty.

Catherine nodded. "That is one crispy critter. But there appears to be no visible damage to this front yard cum junk yard," she observed, glancing around at the rubbish and wreckage that covered the small area in front of the dilapidated house.

Working together, they gently lifted up one of the victim's shoulders. David held the body in place while Catherine snapped a few photographs of the charred ground beneath.

"I'm guessing he burned where he fell," David commented as he lowered the man back down once Catherine was finished. She smiled and they fell into a comfortable silence as they worked.

David had just finished taking the liver temp and was about to inform Catherine of the results when he halted, a faint sound catching his attention.

"Uh, Catherine?"

"Hmm?" she replied, distracted by a piece of melted plastic she'd discovered embedded in the victim's hand.

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

He glanced around. "That… beeping sound."

"I thought it was your pager." She looked at him, placing the camera next to the victim's feet.

"It's not."

Their gazes locked and both sets of eyes widened as realisation dawned. Neither Catherine nor David had time to move an inch before a deafening explosion tore through the house in front of them, windows cracking and sending glass and debris flying everywhere as a huge fireball consumed the building, yellow and white flames reaching up to lick at the dusky sky like a thousand parched tongues desperate for sustenance.

The sound of car alarms blaring mingled with the roar of the fire as ash and burning bits of paper rained down, fluttering to settle upon the three prone bodies the force of the blast had scattered around yard and street.

Cliffhanger. What a shock hehe  
Lily  
-x-


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2. Disclaimer in first chapter

Catherine's eyes fluttered open and she groaned, the sound immediately swallowed by the deafening roar of the fire raging throughout the house ten yards away. She lifted her upper body slowly from the hard ground, wincing slightly as she put weight on her right hand. Her wrist was definitely sprained, if not broken. Her head was pounding; she could already feel the telltale warm trickle of blood down her temple as she eased herself into a sitting position.

She glanced around, her eyes widening at the sight of David's still body lying feet away.

"Oh my God David!" Catherine wrenched herself to her feet, gasping at the shooting pain that pierced through her left knee, causing it to buckle. She regained her balance quickly, leaning briefly on the hood of the Denali for support before racing over to David's side. Her knee protested and throbbed painfully as she hit the ground next to him, her fingers dancing over the soot-blackened skin of his neck as she searched desperately for a pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief as she felt a gentle throbbing against the pads of her fingers.

"It's going to be ok David," she said softly, wiping away some of the blood that was smeared across his face then pulled her walkie talkie from her broken kit, ignoring the wave of dizziness and blurring of her vision.

"Dispatch, this is Supervisor Willows with the Crime Lab. I need back up and paramedics to my location immediately. There's been an explosion."

A second, stronger wave of dizziness hit her, causing the dispatcher's voice to fade to nothingness as Catherine fell back against the ground. Her eyes slipped shut and she surrendered to the blissful darkness of unconsciousness.

Detective Lou Vartann was driving to a crime scene when he heard her voice come through the radio that sat on his dashboard. At the word 'explosion' his eyes widened while his hand had shot out, hitting a switch which caused the sirens and lights to blare to life, his foot pressing down harder on the accelerator as he tore round a corner at an intersection.

Fear twisted his stomach into knots as he listened to the dispatcher try - and fail - to reach Catherine on the radio after her initial call for help.

Lou could see the flames rising up into the night sky as he turned onto the street, long orange and red fingers that seemed to gouge tears into the inky black sheet above. The door was open and he was sprinting across the street to the house before the car had stopped completely.

"Catherine!" He yelled as he rounded the Denali, the sound of other approaching sirens barely penetrating his conscious. He glanced around, his eyes moving briefly over a blackened body before coming to rest on two prone figures in navy jumpsuits lying feet away.

"Oh my God Catherine!" Lou was by her side in an instant, gathering her unresponsive body into his arms, smoothing away a few strands of hair that had been plastered to her forehead by the blood that was oozing from a gash at her temple. "It's going to be ok sweetheart, you're going to be fine."

He was only vaguely aware of other officers arriving; his attention remained fixed on the strawberry blonde in his arms as he silently prayed that she was going to be ok, that he wasn't going to lose the woman he loved.

Yea, I've caved and decided to call him Lou, even though I prefer Tony. Reviews welcome

Lily  
-x-


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys. Bet ya'll thought I'd forgotten about this. Apologies for the long wait but here's chapter three. I think there's maybe another one, possibly two chapters left in it. Sorry it's so short, but at least it's progress :)

The first thing Catherine became aware of was pain. A dull niggling throb at first, slowly morphing into a sharp, stabbing attack that radiated from her left knee and spread throughout her body. She groaned inwardly; she was physically too exhausted to externalize the sound, before a wave of calm washed over her, masking the pain and sending her sliding back into blissful unconsciousness.

The next time Catherine became aware of anything it wasn't pain, but rather pressure. A constant, somewhat comforting pressure emanating from her right hand. She wrinkled her nose; the two plastic tubes making their presence known through her movement. Her eyelids fluttered slowly and opened. Catherine blinked a few times, clearing the fog from her vision before she was able to focus clearly. The subtle beeping was the first thing to permeate her senses; the figure beside her bed was the second. In the instant that it took her to register his identity his head had already tilted, blue/grey eyes meeting hers. His happiness and relief were evident, despite the layers of exhaustion that the first two emotions filtered through.

"How are you feeling?"  
"Sore," she responded honestly, her own voice sounding hoarse and alien to her ears. "And a little groggy."  
"Getting blown up will do that." Lou smiled gently. "The doctor said you're going to be ok; mild concussion, sprained knee, broken wrist, plus lots of other bruises and abrasions. It could've been a lot worse Cath." Lou's thumb lightly caressed the soft skin of her hand, being mindful of the IV that had been inserted, his grip increasing minutely.

Her eyes widened suddenly as realisation hit her.  
"How's David? Is he ok?"  
"He's going to be fine Cath. Some broken ribs, minor burns, lacerations and a concussion. His wife was in here not long before you woke up; he'd sent her to check on you."  
The strawberry blonde smiled and relaxed a little, her eyes closing once more as the pain meds began to work their magic.  
Lou released her hand and stood, pressing a tender kiss to her forehead.  
"Get some rest. I'm going to call Lindsey and Nick, let them know you're ok."

She was asleep before he reached the door.

Hope ya'll like it :)  
Lily  
-x-


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